


never too old (to hold somebody)

by nerdytardis



Category: IT (1990), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Growing Old, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Reunions, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdytardis/pseuds/nerdytardis
Summary: Mike knew that despite the years, the losers club would still know each other.  They had to.  But, the recognition would only arrive after the long moment in which receding hairlines and full beards and laugh lines stood out like flares in the dark.(Mike is self conscious about his grey hair.  Bill thinks it's perfect.)
Relationships: Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon
Kudos: 16





	never too old (to hold somebody)

**Author's Note:**

> this is 100% inspired by outlander, specifically episodes 5 and 6 of season 4
> 
> the title is from a song of the same name by elton john and leon russell  
> sorry for any typos/mistakes. i haven't written in ages and i'm still trying to get back into the swing of things :)

Mike titled his head to the side and frowned. 

He could have sworn that the patches of grey hair were smaller last week. They’d been steadily spreading across his temples for a few years now, but still—

Mike brought a hand to his head. He pulled at the grey a little, twirling it up between his fingers. There was nothing he could do about it.

Well. He could get it dyed. Would that make his face look out of place? The wrinkles around his eyes went with the grey. His hands too. They were all pieces of an older man. 

Mike sighed. He turned from one side to the other. He leaned in and pressed at the slight sag of skin under his chin. 

They’d all be older of course. Even a group as impossible as them had to age. He knew that. 

He also knew that despite the years, they would still know each other. They had to. But, the recognition would only arrive after the long moment in which receding hairlines and full beards and laugh lines stood out like flares in the dark.

They’d all collect and categorize the changes. Silently at first, save for Richie. Then the gates would be open and they’d all laugh and poke at each other like they used to.

Mike wondered what they would see in him that he didn’t see now. He counted up his own list of changes as he gazed into the mirror. 

Quietly, he wondered what Bill would see first. The wrinkles or the grey or the cheap suit jacket or something else entirely. He felt guilty for caring more about what Bill had to think, but there wasn’t much he could do about that besides feeling guilty. 

After 30 years, those feelings weren’t going anywhere. Natural as growing older, as the water of the Kenduskeag making its way through the Barrens, as the strange pull that seemed to carry Mike to his phone recently—these things could barely be fought against. Maybe put on hold for a little, but never stopped. Never overcome. 

Mike turned away from the mirror.

\-- -- --

Resting his weight on his elbow, Bill was studying Mike from slightly above. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mike asked.

“You look the same.”

Mike huffed. “No I don’t.”

“No, you do.” Bill brought a hand to the side of Mike’s face. “I can’t get over it. It’s like…” Bill shook his head a little, “I think I would have been able to pick you out of crowd even when I didn’t know who you were.”

Mike didn’t have the words to respond to that. He watched as Bill studied his face, trying to puzzle something out.

“And even the ways that you’ve changed,” Bill said, “you still look just like _you_. Nothing is out of place.”

Mike knew Bill meant it. Bill meant nearly everything he said. After spending so much time trying to get any words out at all, Bill didn’t tend to waste the ones he had now.

“I thought about dyeing my hair. Before you guys came back.” Mike’s face was already warm before he spoke up, and the admission didn’t help anything.

Bill let out a soft laugh. “What? Really?” Bill’s thumb ran over the grey, back and forth, before moving to gently tug at the corner of Mike’s smile. 

“I didn’t want to look old.”

“We all aged Mikey.”

“I know.” Mike turned his head to kiss the center of Bill’s palm. 

“In all honesty, if I wasn’t so concerned with being scared shitless and not remembering why, I’m sure I would have been nervous about what you would think too.”

“Me specifically?”

Bill’s expression softened in time with the warm bubble in Mike’s chest. “Yes.” Bill said, “You.” He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Mike’s. When he leaned back, he rested his forehead against Mike’s. “Specifically.”

Mike hummed and closed his eyes as he moved his hand up to the back of Bill’s neck. He started to card through the hair at the base of Bill’s skull. 

Together, they breathed. In and out. The heat against Mike’s skin prickled. He opened his eyes and stared into the blue of Bill’s. 

Shifting up more, Bill moved to straddle Mike’s middle. One hand on either side of Mike’s pillow, Bill hovered over him. 

“For the record,” Bill said, “I like the grey.”

Bill grinned as Mike laughed. He leaned down to kiss the side of Mike’s neck, so Mike wrapped his arms around Bill’s shoulders pull him almost flush and hold him in place.

“You better like it, Bill Denbrough.” He said, “Worrying about you cost me more than a few grey hairs.”

When he leaned back, Bill was grinning again. Maybe he never stopped, “I’m the only one you worried about?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Mike’s smile was as natural as growing old; as the flowers blossoming in spring and the sound of Bill’s laughter. 

“Oh okay, fine, I see how it is.” Bill pretended to move away, even as he grinned, just so Mike could grab a hold of him and keep him in place.

Pulling Bill down to him felt natural too, like pressing the final piece of the puzzle into place. The edges smoothed out and the whole picture came together just as it was supposed to. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
